Baseball Game Preview: North Medford Black Tornado vs. Sheldon Irish

The North Medford Black Tornado will face off against the Sheldon Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Sheldon took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on North Medford, who comes in off a win.

North Medford is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Oregon's top teams: Roseburg, who was ranked 11th at the time (North Medford was ranked 20th). The Black Tornado were the clear victors by a 10-3 margin over the Indians on Saturday. The high-scoring effort was just what the Black Tornado needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.

Macen Baker spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned runs on six hits.

Jake Payton

Hits (Career)

05/03/25 vs Roseburg	2
04/15/25 @ South Eugene	1
04/05/25 vs Bend	1
03/25/25 vs Ida B. Wells	1

At the plate, North Medford let Jake Payton and Colton Miller run wild. Payton went a perfect 2-for-2 with four RBI and one double, while Miller went 3-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. Those two hits gave Payton a new career-high. Cade Pettersen was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and one run.

The home team had won the previous five meetings between Sheldon and South Medford, and South Medford kept the tradition alive. The Irish took a 4-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Panthers on Saturday.

Sheldon's defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 9-8-1. As for North Medford, their win bumped their record up to 13-6.

North Medford was able to grind out a solid victory over Sheldon in their previous matchup back in April, winning 11-7. Do the Black Tornado have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Irish turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.